Judge clears AT&T takeover of Time Warner

A US District Court judge has cleared the merger of telecoms giant AT&T and media firm Time Warner, in a loss for government regulators. Judge Richard Leon rejected those arguments, approving the deal without conditions. The lawsuit against AT&T had cast a pall over that activity, as a sign that the Department of Justice, under new Trump appointees, was taking a more hard line stance to mega-deals. The opinion comes 20 months after AT&T announced its plans to buy Time Warner in a transaction then worth almost $85bn. The deal is set to unite AT&T's significant wireless, satellite television and internet business with Time Warner's media properties, which include HBO and CNN..